Najib pleads not guilty to new money laundering charges

KUALA LUMPUR - Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has claimed trial to three counts of money laundering at the High Court here.

The charges were read out before Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali in Malay, to which the former premier pleaded not guilty on Wednesday (Aug 8).

Najib was slapped with fresh charges of receiving RM27mil, RM5mil and RM10mil, which were allegedly obtained from illegal activities, into his bank accounts in three separate transactions.

The first and second offences were allegedly committed at AmIslamic Bank at Jalan Raja Chulan on Dec 26, 2014 while the third offence was allegedly committed at the same place on Feb 10, 2015.

The charges are related to the RM42mil allegedly deposited into his personal bank accounts from SRC International Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) placed under the jurisdiction of the Finance Ministry in 2012.

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The offences under Section 4 (1)(b) of Anti-Money Laundering Act, Anti-Terrorism Financing Act and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act (Amla) 2001 carries a punishment of up to 15 years' prison and a fine of up to five times the monetary amount involved.

The case was earlier heard before Sessions Court judge Azura Alwi, who allowed the prosecution's application to transfer the case to the High Court.

The prosecution team, led by Datuk Mohamad Hanafiah Zakaria, applied to have it heard together with the previous charges before another High Court.

The defence, led by Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, agreed that the move was sensible, saying these charges are subsidiary to the earlier predicated offences.